So I grew up in a low income household . My mom got pregnant with me at 16 by a 21 year old and he was sent off to jail for it. She grew up with my stepdad and they have known eachother since they were 11. Well my stepdad ended up raising me and I can honestly say now that I’m older, he was definitely abusive. I would wake up in the middle of the night hearing my stepdad beating my moms ass and hearing her scream and me pretending to be sleep and not hearing any of it. There was nights I thought he would kill her. He doesnt even have a GED and all of my childhood my mom was the moneymaker, working at fast food places making a little more than minimum wage. I remember when my mom was pregnant , she was always working, driving, and bringing in money while my stepdad stayed at home and pursued his rap career. All the while, beating my mom occasionally thinking we didn’t know. They have 6 kids together also. Growing up he ended up beating us too. I remember times where he would tell my mom to “get your daughter before I murder her ass” (I have a different father than the other kids) . I remember getting in trouble for stupid things and my mom taking his side everytime I got in trouble even if she KNEW I did nothing wrong. I’ve been choked, slapped, backhanded, bodyslammed, and thrown into walls. And anytime I would look at him he would tell me I have a “look” in my eyes like I have an attitude. Well the “look” I always had was fear. I feared for my life sometimes when this man would yell at me so altogether I avoided eye contact. Because frankly I never intentionally gave him any “looks” because I knew better. And when I say I got in trouble for dumb shit... i remember being thrown to the ground by my hair by this man. I would always get accused of running my mouth to family members about what “goes on in our house” . And the crazy part is... I didn’t even have a PHONE. There was no way that I could have possibly talked to my family members as they live states and states away. I remember him telling me and my sister that we were “some bitches” and that he was going to bully us because he can and that we were his “slaves”. don’t get me wrong we had good days and we would have nice talks and he would say that he would “whoop” us for discipline. And I was a child so I didn’t know any better and I agreed. Thinking back to it now, it was in fact child abuse. He’s grown out of it now and is doing so much better but I can honestly say that part of me scolds my mom for STAYING WITH THAT BASTARD. He has threatened my life, beat me when I did nothing wrong, made her pay all the bills, work/drive while pregnant, BEAT HER ASS, and she never fucking left him. If it wasn’t for him , I wouldn’t be where I am now, as far as living in a different state that I grew up in and that’s the only part that I love. I love my life now. I’m 19, moved out , in a happy relationship, 3 months pregnant with my first, making $19.00/hr, and have a roof over my head. But sometimes I just think about all the horrible things he has said and done even though he has changed. Sometimes I feel like he moved us to another state to separate us from our family. And my mom would always listen to what he would recommend like a dummy. He’s so much better than he was 10 years ago and I’m happy but I still think about how he really abused me, my siblings, and my mom and she never did anything to leave. I remember broken phones, ambulances coming to our house, and neighbors calling the police. A few years ago my stepdad was beating my sister and the little girl next door asked her dad “daddy what’s all that noise?” And he didn’t respond. I wonder what the neighbors thought and why did they never call the cops? I wouldn’t be surprised if he beat her while she was pregnant too, which I can’t really remember. But to sum it all up, I would like to say that child abuse and domestic violence is real and it can happen to anyone that you know even if you never thought it would be them. If you’re a grown ass man (or woman) and you’re putting your bare hands on a child (punching, slapping) that’s fucking abuse. And it will definitely affect a child rather they want it to or not. I wish I could have opened my eyes sooner because my mom and stepdads relationship was so, SO toxic and I’m slightly upset with my mom for allowing it all to happen.